Chess
by j-orbanski
Summary: John and Sherlock can remember exactly how they learned to play chess. So, they play a chess game of their own with a twist. Chess with a twist? Can that even exist? It does when it becomes a game of strip chess.  Sherlock / John slash, PG-13


**100.) Writer's Choice: Chess  
><strong>**Author: **j-orbank  
><strong>Fandom: <strong>Sherlock BBC  
><strong>Pairing: <strong>Sherlock / John  
><strong>Rating: <strong>PG-13  
><strong>Word Count: <strong>1,155  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>Only borrowing the characters. No profit, etc.  
><strong>Summary: <strong>John and Sherlock can remember exactly how they learned to play chess. So, they play a chess game of their own with a twist. Chess with a twist? Can that even exist? It does when it becomes a game of strip chess.

* * *

><p>John remembers when he learned to play chess just like it was yesterday.<p>

His father taught him when he was 10. He would play with the pieces, never knowing how they worked, how they moved – he just thought they were neatly-carved checkers pieces.

His father laughed when he told him this when they sat at the kitchen table, a board between them.

"Do you want me to teach you how to play?" his father asked. "It's complicated – there are a lot of things to remember, but I think you'll grasp the concepts."

John nodded enthusiastically, practically bouncing in his seat.

His father smiled, "Well, let me teach you the pieces."

With John's eyes wide, all attention on his father's words, he was taught what every piece was called, how they moved, and how many spaces they could move.

"This is the knight, he always moves in an 'L' formation on the board. He can't move in any other way – just in an 'L,'" his father told him, showing him on the board.

"All the pieces are set up in a specific way on the board. The first row is rook – knight – bishop – queen – king – bishop – knight – rook. The second row is all pawns. Now remember, when a pawn is first moved from their row, they can move one or two spaces ahead, but after that, only one."

John nodded, "Got it."

"White always moves first. Remember, Johnny, you can only capture pieces by taking them in a diagonal fashion. And in tournament chess games, moves are timed. But since you're just starting, we won't do that."

"Have you ever played in a tournament, Dad?"

His father smiled, "I did once. There were about 50 of us in a room, waiting at different tables, while one guy went around to each table, making one move before going onto the next table. He won every match."

"Wow!" John exclaimed.

His father chuckled.

For Christmas that year, John received an electronic chess board. He could play against the computer inside for as long as he wanted. He only beat it once when he was 17.

* * *

><p>Sherlock was given a chess instructor when he was 6-years-old. The lessons only lasted two days until Sherlock flipped the board for the seventh time upon hearing "Checkmate."<p>

After the instructor left, Mycroft tried to take over, but Sherlock was stubborn. He knew how the pieces worked, how they moved, but he wasn't thinking ahead.

"You have to think four or five, maybe even six moves ahead," Mycroft taught him one afternoon. "I can take your rook here, but then your bishop is free to take the queen and put me into check. But if I move here, I can take your knight, and then your pawn will take mine, which will then free my queen to take your bishop – check. You can only move your king one space in each direction, so you can try to block with the rook – but then my knight will take that. You move another pawn, I move my queen – checkmate."

Sherlock's jaw dropped, but Mycroft could see the gears turning in the young Holmes' mind.

Sherlock was completing in small tournaments by the time he was 10.

* * *

><p>It's a boring spring day at 221B Baker Street. John sits at the table in the living room, his electronic chess board in front of him, the green lights lit in front of him as he thinks of his next move.<p>

Sherlock is still sleeping, despite it being 2 o'clock in the afternoon. They had just finished a case yesterday, so Sherlock was catching up on sleep before they go out for dinner.

John loses to the computer for the fourth time that day when Sherlock pads into the living room, dressing gown floating behind him as he sits down on the sofa.

"Good morning, sleepy head," says John with a smirk.

"I didn't know you played chess," says Sherlock, staring at the board intensely.

"Yeah, my father taught me when I was 10," John says with a smile, remembering the day he learned to play chess.

"Have you ever played against a real person, or always against that board?" asks Sherlock.

"I played against my dad a few times, I always tried to play Harry, but she would just become angry and flip the board whenever I took her queen."

Sherlock laughs, "I know a thing or two about flipping boards. I scared away three different chess instructors before Mycroft just ended up teaching me. I was winning tournaments by the time I was 12."

"I'm somehow not surprised," says John.

"Let's play, but with a twist," says Sherlock, a smirk on his face and a devilish glint in his eye.

"How can chess have a twist?"

"Every piece I take, you take a piece of your clothing off. Every piece you take, I take a piece of my clothing off."

"Strip chess? Why not. It'll be nice to be sitting here in all my clothes while you sit there naked."

"I doubt it will end that way, John."

They set up the board, Sherlock allowing John to be white, which moves first.

Within four moves, John already has to take off a sock – Sherlock's knight taking his pawn. But two more moves and Sherlock takes off his dressing gown – John's pawn taking one of his pawns. Not a big loss for Sherlock, as he knows he had to make a sacrifice in order to win the game.

John is soon in just his undershirt and boxers, his clothes in a pile on the floor. Sherlock sits in just his flannel pajamas. They are close to a stalemate.

Sherlock backtracks for a moment, taking John out of check to take his last pawn. Off goes to the undershirt.

"Let's call it a tie – one more piece taken from either of us and we're naked," says Sherlock.

"I've got one piece of clothing, you've got two, how is that a tie?"

"Two? How do you figure two? I just have these flannels on, nothing underneath."

John visibly swallows, "Oh, then yes, it could be a tie."

"What are you thinking?"

"Like you can't read my mind," says John. "I'm thinking of flipping the board, then pinning you on top of the table, and having my way with you."

Sherlock stands, and in one swoop of his arm, the pieces fly across the room before he picks up the board and slides it into a spot in the bookcase.

He stands in front of John's chair before he sits on the table, a smile on his face.

John then rises from his chair and runs his fingers down Sherlock's bare chest before he kisses Sherlock hungrily.

They fall onto the table, John's hands on each side of Sherlock's head, holding him up.

When their mouths leave each other for just a moment, John whispers one word into Sherlock's ear.

"Checkmate."


End file.
